Reflecting on Proverbs 1:1-6

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
For gaining wisdom and being instructed;
for understanding insightful sayings;
for receiving wise instruction [in] righteousness, justice, and integrity;
for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man-
a wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance-
For understanding a proverb or a parable, the words of the wise, and their riddles.

Proverbs 1:1-6

In college I wrestled for the University of Kentucky. I remember during my freshman year I wanted to quit wrestling and hang up the shoes. I was tired of cutting weight and the classes were much harder than I had anticipated. Things were pretty tough at the time, and I wanted to bail out.

I sat down one night and talked to my dad about quitting. He never yelled at me, called me stupid, or sent me to my room; he merely gave me one of those sayings that have stuck with me all of my life: “Never quit something when things are tough. Wait until things are good and see if you feel the same way.”

He went on to tell me about how he had a great job with IBM when he was younger and he quit. He said that our lives would have been much different if he had stayed, but there was no one there to encourage him along the way. I stayed on the team that year and things worked themselves out.

We all need to have somewhere to go in times of need. My father was the only place I had at the time. Thankfully his advice was very wise. I have since learned the only true source of wisdom comes from my Heavenly Father. This is something Solomon understood and wanted to teach his son.

When it comes to our search for wisdom, and to finding success in this life, fatherly wisdom is great, but Fatherly wisdom is better. Where do you find yourself looking for wisdom? Do you struggle with applying the wisdom found in the Bible to your everyday life?